Bulletin of Hispanic Studies

El día de la bestia: recasting Madrid

Bulletin of Hispanic Studies (2008), 85, (1), 33–46.

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3828/bhs.85.1.3
Language
English
Pages
14

Abstract

'El día de la bestia: recasting Madrid' reflects on how Alex de la Iglesia's 1995 film, through the use of violence and urban landscapes, alters Madrid's cinematic image. El día de la bestia is representative of the aesthetic and thematic changes in the Peninsular films of the nineties. The years after the Spanish transition to democracy saw films that depicted Spain as a modern country with its own contradictions and mixed temporalities, but on its way to overcoming its tragic past. During the nineties, however, young Spanish directors used new themes in their national cinema, violence being one of them, to narrate the conditions of postmodern life in a world decidedly capitalist, post-industrial and dominated by TV. This essay concludes by showing how El dia de la bestia portrays the inherent relationship between the modern city and violence.

'El día de la bestia: recasting Madrid' trata sobre cómo la película de Álex de la Iglesia, a través del uso de la violencia y del paisaje urbano, modifica la imagen cinematográfica de Madrid. El día de la bestia es representativa del cambio producido en la estética, temas y contenidos en el cine peninsular de los noventa. Los años subsecuentes a la transición española vieron un cine que intentaba imaginar un país moderno, todavía con contradicciones, pero que había superado su pasado trágico. Sin embargo, en los noventa los directores jóvenes hacen uso de elementos en el cine peninsular como la violencia o el terror para narrar las condiciones de la vida posmoderna en un mundo decididamente capitalista, postindustrial y dominado por la televisión. El ensayo concluye mostrando como El día de la bestia ilustra la relación intrínseca entre la ciudad moderna y la violencia.

Access Token

FormatArticle

£25.00
READ THIS ARTICLE
References
Full Text
PDF
If you have private access to this content, please log in with your username and password here

Allinson, Mark, 1997. 'Not matadors, not natural born killers: violence in three films by young Spanish directors', Bulletin of Hispanic Studies 74: 315–30. Not matadors, not natural born killers: violence in three films by young Spanish directors Bulletin of Hispanic Studies 74 315 30 Google Scholar

Compitello, Malcolm, 1999. 'From planning to design: the culture of flexible accumulation on Post-Cambio Madrid', The Arizona Journal of Hispanic Studies 3: 199–220. From planning to design: the culture of flexible accumulation on Post-Cambio Madrid The Arizona Journal of Hispanic Studies 3 199 220 Google Scholar

Donald, James, 1999. Imagining the Modern City (Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P). Imagining the Modern City Google Scholar

García Canclini, Néstor, 1996. Hybrid Cultures. Strategies for Entering and Leaving Modernity (Minneapolis and London: U of Minnesota P). Hybrid Cultures. Strategies for Entering and Leaving Modernity Google Scholar

Ingenschay, Dieter, 2003. 'Bees at a loss: images of Madrid (before and) after La colmena', in After-Images of the City, ed. Joan Ramon Resina and Dieter Ingenschay (Ithaca: Cornell UP), pp. 123–38. Bees at a loss: images of Madrid (before and) after La colmena After-Images of the City 123 38 Google Scholar

Kinder, Marsha, 1993. Blood Cinema. The Reconstruction of National Identity in Spain (Berkeley: U of California P). Blood Cinema. The Reconstruction of National Identity in Spain Google Scholar

Kinder, Marsha, 1997. Refiguring Spain. Cinema/Media/Representation (Durham, N.C.: Duke UP). Refiguring Spain. Cinema/Media/Representation Google Scholar

Martín-Cabrera, Luis, 2001. 'Nuevas representaciones culturales en la España postolímpica: El día de la bestia de Alex de la Iglesia', in Convergencias Hispánicas; Selected Proceedings and Other Essays on Spanish and Latin American Literature, Film, and Linguistics, ed. Elizabeth Scarlett and Howard Wescott (Newark: Juan de la Cuesta), pp. 79–81. Nuevas representaciones culturales en la España postolímpica: El día de la bestia de Alex de la Iglesia Convergencias Hispánicas; Selected Proceedings and Other Essays on Spanish and Latin American Literature, Film, and Linguistics 79 81 Google Scholar

Ministerio de Cultura. http://www.mcu.es/jsp/plantilla_wai.jsp?id=853&area=cine Google Scholar

Moreiras Menor, Cristina, 2002. Cultura Herida: Literatura y cine en la España democrática (Madrid: Ediciones Libertarias). Cultura Herida: Literatura y cine en la España democrática Google Scholar

Ordóñez, Marcos, 1997. La bestia anda suelta (Madrid: Glenat). La bestia anda suelta Google Scholar

Resina, Joan Ramon, 2001. 'Madrid's palimpsest: reading the capital against the grain', in Iberian Cities, ed. Joan Ramon Resina (New York: Routledge), pp. 56–92. Madrid's palimpsest: reading the capital against the grain Iberian Cities 56 92 Google Scholar

Resina, Joan Ramon, 2003. 'The concept of after-image and the scopic apprehension of the city', in After-Images of the City, ed. Joan Ramon Resina and Dieter Ingenschay (Ithaca: Cornell UP), pp. 1–22. The concept of after-image and the scopic apprehension of the city After-Images of the City 1 22 Google Scholar

Resina, Joan Ramon and Dieter Ingenschay, 2003. 'Preface', in After-Images of the City (Ithaca: Cornell UP), pp. xi–xvii. Preface After-Images of the City xi xvii Google Scholar

Russell, Dominique, 2006. 'What the centre cannot hold: the defiant deviances of El día de la bestia', in Defiant Deviance. The Irreality of Reality in the Cultural Imaginary, ed. Cristina Santos and Adriana Spahr (New York: Peter Lang), pp. 123–33. What the centre cannot hold: the defiant deviances of El día de la bestia Defiant Deviance. The Irreality of Reality in the Cultural Imaginary 123 33 Google Scholar

Schaefer, Claudia, 2003. Bored to Distraction. Cinema of Excess in End-of the-Century Mexico and Spain (Albany: SUNY). Bored to Distraction. Cinema of Excess in End-of the-Century Mexico and Spain Google Scholar

Zumalde Arregui, Imanol, 1997. 'El día de la bestia'. In Antología crítica del cine español 1906–1995: Flor en la sombra, ed. Julio Pérez Perucha (Madrid: Cátedra). Google Scholar

If you have private access to this content, please log in with your username and password here

Details

Author details

De Alba, Francisco Fernández